Support for Moms
Becoming a mother greatly enhanced my passion for providing more personalized pregnancy and postpartum support. The experience of pregnancy and childbirth is powerful and transformative, and no two experiences are the same. These seasons of life greatly impact our mental health and identity, and frankly, I don’t think we are set up to support mothers enough.
The Therapy Space offers Postpartum/Birth Trauma Therapy, Birth Story Processing, and Pregnancy Coaching to help support moms & birthing individuals on this journey. More information can be found below.
Postpartum / Birth Trauma Therapy
You’re holding your baby. You’re exhausted. You know this comes with the territory, but you feel like something more might be going on. You’re on edge all of the time and having trouble sleeping - perhaps you are also experiencing nightmares. Your child’s birth did not unfold how you hoped it would and its hard not to think about what happened. You expected to feel supported and joyful during your birth and in the aftermath, but instead you may have felt vulnerable, scared, confused, violated, or powerless.
When people ask you about the birth, you change the subject. Your baby is here, and that’s what matters right? Right? You want to be happy and enjoy this time with your child, but you feel afraid and uncomfortable most of the time, which also makes you feel guilty and devastated. You don’t feel like your partner or anyone else seems to understand. You’re so tired and desperate to feel differently.
Research shows that between 33-45% of birthing people report experiencing trauma either during or after their childbirth, so please know you are not alone if any of this sounds familiar.
Some examples of birth trauma include:
A challenging labor or delivery experience
A lack or complete loss of control
Fearing for baby's safety or your own safety
Enduring intense physical pain
Facing emergency procedures
Poor communication from medical professionals
Inadequate care following delivery
In short, if your child’s birth didn’t go as planned or expected, if there was a medical emergency, or if you didn’t feel heard or supported during the birth of your child, you might have experienced your birth as traumatic.
Experiencing birth trauma can cause trouble thinking clearly, make it more difficult to regulate your emotions, and increase your susceptibility to stress, fear, and hypervigilance, which can leave you feeling raw, scared, exhausted, guilty, and in pain. Please know that you do not have to navigate this heaviness alone.
As a trauma therapist, my intention is to help you restore a feeling of safety, connection and control as you heal from this experience and continue on in your parenthood journey.
Trauma impacts each person differently, and the basis for trauma is not just what happened to you, it’s how you feel about it.
How can Birth Trauma Therapy help?
Therapy for birth trauma can help you:
Process the emotional and somatic impacts of your birth experience
Alleviate symptoms of post-traumatic stress
Help you connect and continue bonding with your child
Strengthen your relationship with your partner
Process and move through heavy emotions like fear, guilt, anger, grief, and sadness
Plan for your next birth experience, if relevant
How does Birth Trauma Therapy work?
If you are seeking support with birth trauma (or any type of trauma) it’s important to find a therapist with specialized training in trauma work. Trauma lives in both the body and the mind, which means trauma therapists utilize methods that treat both. My approach includes trauma-focused talk therapy as well as somatic trauma therapy known as EMDR Therapy.
Can you tell me a bit more about EMDR Therapy?
Traumatic experiences can significantly impact our health and well-being, often causing post-traumatic stress responses. EMDR, short for Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing, is a therapy technique that is proven to support individuals in healing from trauma, including birth trauma.
To understand how EMDR therapy works, it is helpful to understand how trauma can interfere with your brain's ability to process information and naturally recover from stress. In everyday life, our brains heal themselves all the time. You've resolved and worked through many difficult life experiences without the help of EMDR countless times.
However, sometimes we experience events that our bodies register as exceptionally threatening, intense, or stressful - when this happens, the memory of the event gets kind of stuck during the brain’s processing of it and the event is stored in a “state-specific” form. This means that the images, feelings, beliefs, and sensory information (such as smells and sounds etc.) associated with the event can remain present and at times it can feel like we are experiencing the event over and over again. These memories are considered unprocessed and can impact our beliefs about ourselves and the world. EMDR can be supportive in reprocessing the disturbing event and decreasing the amount of distress associated with those memories.
A trained EMDR therapist will use EMDR therapy techniques to help you reprocess traumatic events in your brain so that normal healing can resume. After reprocessing an event, the information about the experience is the same, but the way that you understand the experience, the feelings around it, the meaning you make from it, and how the experience impacts your daily life is what changes. You'll be able to understand the experiences from a different perspective, one grounded in safety - alleviating symptoms and allowing you to heal and move forward.
If something doesn’t feel right about your birth experience, you deserve support. Please contact me today for a complimentary consultation to speak further about my Therapy / Birth Trauma Therapy services.
Birth Story Processing
Adjusting to life with a newborn can be beautiful and it can be challenging, leaving little room or space to reflect on your actual birth experience. And yet, the way we feel about our birth experiences can often impact how we parent and bond with our littles, how we recover and heal ourselves, and how we experience any subsequent pregnancies and childbirths.
Birth Story Processing sessions are a sacred opportunity for parents to process feelings related to childbirth and to create meaning in their birth story. While not all births are traumatic, they can still be quite intense and it is the birther’s interpretation of the birth that defines it.
Do you catch yourself replaying specific moments from your childbirth experience? Perhaps causing mixed emotions?
Maybe your birth unfolded as expected, yet you find yourself still thinking about it, weeks, months, or years later?
If so, please know you are not alone, and these feelings are common.
Current research indicates that the postpartum period lasts much longer than we initially thought. It is not uncommon for the emotional impact of childbirth to impact parents for months or years after a child is born. Taking the time to process your birth story is a powerful way to celebrate the birth of your baby, provide space for reflection and integration, and honor your transition to motherhood.
Who might benefit from this experience?
Most individuals seeking birth story processing are birthing mothers; however, birth story processing is available to anyone who has been present for a birth experience. Parents, partners, family, and birth support workers are all welcome.
What to expect?
Each 1:1 session begins with a grounding exercise and an opportunity to briefly get to know one another. When you feel comfortable, you may begin sharing your unique birth story.
I will listen. I will hold compassionate space for you as you share the moments of this deeply impactful event. I will support you as you remember details, identify pieces of your story, label, feel and process what this experience means to you. Through storytelling, guided visualization, and somatic techniques, we will create a cohesive story you can hold onto with confidence.
When should I attend a birth story processing session?
The ideal time to share your story is whenever you feel comfortable. Some mothers may feel the urge to share immediately after labor, during the early postpartum days, while others may require more time and distance before they are prepared to make sense of their experience. There is also no obligation to share your story.
Additional Information
Sessions are held virtually and are 60 minutes long.
This healing time is designated for you, so I ask that you please be free of childcare responsibilities or distractions.
Birth story processing sessions are separate from therapy sessions; however, our session will include a screening for postpartum mood and anxiety disorders, as well as subsequent recommendations if desired.
The investment is $100 for one session and $175 for two sessions.
Often, only one session is needed. However, if your experience was traumatic and remains very difficult to think about, you may benefit from processing aspects of the birth in a therapeutic setting. If this appears to be the case, we can discuss other options. As a trained trauma therapist, I will approach this with compassion, sensitivity, and care while keeping your healing journey in mind.
My hope is that following this experience, you will have integrated the pieces of your birth story into a narrative that makes sense, one that holds meaning for you - I hope to help you see your birth from a new perspective.
Pregnancy Coaching
The goal of Pregnancy Coaching is to simplify and process the overwhelming amount of information, emotions, and life changes being thrown at you during such a profound time in your life. I offer one-on-one coaching sessions designed to fit your individual needs.
Whether you want dedicated space and support to create your birth plan, accountability for your to-do list, access to relevant information for you, postpartum preparation support or the chance to just slow down and talk about your pregnancy experience, these customized sessions are available in person or virtually.
The modern mom-to-be….
is bombarded with books to read, Instagram accounts to follow, podcasts to listen to, parenting styles to learn about, Facebook groups to join, blogs to subscribe to, advice from well-meaning loved ones (as well as strangers on the internet) to sift through, and an infinite amount of information at her fingertips at all times.
Not to mention, multiple healthcare appointments to schedule, major life changes to plan and prepare for, a shift in home dynamics... It’s a lot. Your body is changing. Your identity is transforming. A whole new amazing human being is about to join us. And where is this whole “village” everyone talks about? It can be overwhelming, to say the least. I know I certainly felt that way during my pregnancy.
Pregnancy Coaching is a chance to discuss all of the things that we don’t talk about at our prenatal visits – a space to mend the gap.
What can Pregnancy Coaching help with?
As your Coach, I’m here to help collaborate with you on answering these types of questions:
“There is so much information out there. What do I truly need to know?”
“When do I need to do certain things? How do I know where to start?”
“What can I do to prepare myself on a physical/emotional/mental/and practical level?”
“How might my marriage/relationship be impacted? My family? My career?”
“Where do I go for more help with specific prenatal issues?”
“How do I cope with all of this stress?”
“How will I feel when things go as planned and when things don’t go as planned?”
My intention as your Coach is to help you feel connected, calm, and confident in the choices you make for yourself and your baby. Together, we will prepare for your birth, help you have a more calm and empowered pregnancy, and help you feel as ready as possible for the transition to motherhood.
What to expect?
Our coaching sessions will center around your personal goals. It’s likely our sessions will include the following: a curated timeline of action items for each month/trimester, emotional processing check-ins, birth planning support, access to research and evidence-based information, guidance on stress management and relaxation techniques, referrals as needed for high-quality outside services (e.g. prenatal chiropractic care, doula services, massage therapy, parenting courses, etc.) and preparation for your postpartum period.
You will receive:
Bimonthly private support meetings with options to meet virtually or in person.
Weekly text or email check-ins for support, accountability, and questions.
Personalized ongoing support practices – worksheets, exercises, action items, and techniques to keep you grounded and on track.
Suggested reading materials, research, and resources relevant to your specific wants and needs.
Personal Yoga Nidra Recordings to aid with rest and relaxation.
Additional Information
3-month Support Package: $900
6-month Support Package: $1,750
After the transformative experience of welcoming your child to the world, I am also available for postpartum support/therapy as needed. A complimentary check-in is provided. This meeting can be done virtually, or we can coordinate an in-home visit – whichever best supports your needs as a new mama. Please know, there is no expectation or obligation to engage in therapy following your pregnancy.